My first ever real fanfic I've posted, and a fluffy Colloyd one at that. I've been reading, the good, fanfic authors for this pairing on here for a long time and hope that my writing can be reviewed by them and seen as good by them too. That would make me so very happy. But, my first fanfiction so go easy and no flames. Though, I'll always take constructive criticism.
This is going to be a three, or maybe two if I can stuff everything in the next chapter, part one-shot involving the events at the Seal of Fire and the group's stay in the inn at Izoold before they head to Palmacosta. I got the idea when I was replaying the game and saw the skit: "Even if I become an Angel..." Plus, I always notice that in every scene that Colette gets her wings, whether it be the game, anime, manga or animated scene from the PS2 version, Lloyd is always highlighted staring at them specifically. I've always been a fan of wings for some reason, and I absolutely fell in love with Colette's when I first saw them. They're so amazing, I want them... But, I digress. I wanted to do a fluffy fic about Lloyd's thoughts on her wings and her muses on them as well since I would think suddenly obtaining wings would be more then a little uncomfortable for Colette at first even though she can put them "away."
Before I let you go off and read, I'd like to clarify that even though Colette's wings may or may not be made of mana or energy or whatever, it isn't clearly stated what they physically are like. Even if they are mana, I imagine that they are indeed solid and made of feathers, and due to that they can be touched and felt by Colette. My interpretation of them is the one I'm going to use in this story and is only of my own opinion since I don't think they're just mere "energy wings," but real physical wings in their own way--and that may not be true. I'm only saying this because I've noted that many people comment on the whole "made of mana" thing and therefore don't think her wings can be touched properly or whatever the case may be... Point being, it's a debate I want to avoid. XD
Oh, and I forgot to mention the disclaimer...
Ahem... I do not own Tales of Symphonia. I'm just unhealthily obsessed with it. It's property of Tales Studio Holdings in Namco, I believe.
So with that, please enjoy the first chappie~!: Angel Feathers
(No worries, I avoided spoilers, but hinted at upcoming events.)
The Ktugach at last began to fall, a final bloodcurdling howl finding its way through the clenched wall of fangs within the beast's bleeding maw as a single sword ripped through the right side of its flank. The great fiery feline shook a bit it as it clearly tried to use the remainder of its power to stay standing. It lifted up its bowing head while heaving heavily, thick green blood dripping from both fur and head spikes. It glued its eyes on the group of humans before it. The seal guardian dared to issue a last challenging glare with those hollow blackened eyes despite the fact it had been reduced to nothing by the Chosen's group.
Kratos, who had issued the final Sonic Thrust along the side of the monster lowered his blade and opted stare down the glower of the snarling fire beast. His icy brown eyes tapered under his messy locks of hair. "You have only your fate to blame," he began calmly as he turned away and sheathed his weapon. "…for your defeat."
The Ktugach keeled over as if on cue, motionless. It didn't even twitch as it fell to the dark mauve paved floor with a 'thud'. The group wearily stared at the corpse for a few moments before—to the shock of all but Kratos—the Ktugach's body was enveloped in light, flaking off into small particles that evaporated into the pedestal of the seal it had been guarding.
A portion of the pedestal uplifted. It looked almost like a cage, a brief silhouette appearing inside but disappearing too quickly to discern, until it was dropped back into place. A swirling wisp of pure red mana floated above the center of the seal as its replacement.
Lloyd clenched his teeth. His chest was rocketing back and forth with the pace of his erratic heart, his breathing lagged and harsh. He was utterly exhausted. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and neck.
He hadn't been scared, per say. Vicious monsters roamed the vast lands of Sylvarant constantly after all. He definitely had not, however, expected to face such a tough enemy when he and his companions had approached the Seal of Fire deep within the Triet Ruins.
In a way Lloyd had to chastise himself for being caught off guard when the Ktugach and its Ktugachlings had appeared. He admitted he wasn't the most focused in school a lot of the time, and the day Raine had gone over the specifics of the Chosen's seal breaking was a day he'd fallen asleep and missed the lecture. Now though it seemed like a no-brainer that these seals—places for the Chosen of Mana to slowly accept the process of transformation into an angel—would have trials to carry out even before the Chosen broke it. He uttered a strangled oath. The Journey of Regeneration was obviously no simple task and he'd rushed into it and the fight overconfident.
The red-clad dual swordsmen, after calming himself, hedged his gaze over upon his friends.
Genis was in pretty bad shape too in terms of tiredness. It couldn't be helped. Genis was brilliant and if not the most reliable during the battle with his ice and water magic. But he was still only twelve and had less stamina in contrast to his older comrades.
Raine was standing in front of Colette with her staff firmly gripped in her hand. She didn't seem as tired as her brother since she'd mostly stayed away from the front-lines to protect the blonde and heal the people on the offensive, but her expression was locked in a sternness that was similar to that of Kratos, who didn't look nearly as worn out as the others. Far from it in fact.
Colette herself didn't really appear all that tired physically. She held her chakrams strongly and wore a mask of minor impassiveness. Though she had attempted to throw her weapons and land some solid blows Kratos had insisted she keep behind Raine during the fight, and though she had eagerly argued against it Raine had agreed with the mercenary's better judgment and had offered to keep an eye on her. Colette wasn't happy at all about that decision mostly because she had no real say in the matter.
Lloyd didn't want her to get hurt either but making her feel unneeded or like a burden was certainly not a good ultimatum in his opinion. He could tell she had truly wanted to help fight, to protect her friends. It was her who needed to break the seal in the first place and who had summoned the trial of defeating the Ktugach.
But she was the Chosen One. If something happened to her then doing this was pretty much meaningless. Irony was indeed unpredictably cruel, and it seemed to follow the blonde around like a shadow.
Lloyd's hand instinctually rested on the hilt of one of his twin blades as he placed them both back into their scabbards, the glow of his Exsphere dying down. He sighed to himself. He wouldn't be underestimating these seals again. He had to get stronger. Lloyd couldn't afford to be cocky when they could be hurt or worse. He didn't want that to happen if he could somehow prevent it—especially to Colette.
"You, the Chosen of Regeneration. Offer your prayers at the altar," a voice suddenly echoed, breaking into the silence and snapping everyone's heads up at the ceiling. They saw no source for the voice heard.
Lloyd raised an eyebrow. The clearly masculine voice was familiar, almost painstakingly so. He shook his head and trained his gaze on Colette. The swordsmen smiled warmly when she peaked over in his direction, trying to offer soundless reassurance in the gesture if she was feeling unsure of herself.
Colette returned the smile with one of her own. It retained its usual brightness but was soft and brief. She closed her eyes as she quietly inhaled before reopening them and solidifying her resolve. "…Yes, my lord," she finally answered to the open air, walking from her position behind Raine up to the pedestal.
When she approached, Colette clasped her hands together in prayer, trying to pour every ounce of emotion she felt into her words as she strung together her many years of tedious studies to do what was expected of her. "Oh Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength!"
A sphere of pure light appeared after the red mana dissipated up and caused a mild flash. It hovered down leisurely. As it did it clicked, and Lloyd remembered.
"This is just like when Colette was given her Cruxis Crystal back at the Martel Temple. So then...the voice and this light must be…"
When the sphere of light reached where the red mana had been prior it shrunk back into itself and then burst away to reveal a fair-haired man in robes, a cleric hat, and other assumed angel attire. Two magnificent white wings flapped continuously behind him keeping him airborne. He looked down at Colette not with kindness, but almost a type of hinted possessiveness that rubbed Lloyd the wrong way.
"…Remiel," Lloyd confirmed wistfully in his head.
The angel smiled; however forced it may have looked to anyone paying close attention. "Colette, my dear daughter, you have done well."
Colette stiffened, appearing very awkward then, struggling to continue looking directly up but somehow managing to do just that. "Thank you…Fa…ther."
Remiel didn't react. "The guardian of the seal has fallen, and the first seal has been released. Efreet will surely awaken soon. In the name of Cruxis, I shall grant you the power of the angels."
Colette's eyes reflected a sort of relief when he didn't look phased by her preceding comment. However, her facial expression never changed. She remained serious as to not let the angel before her detect any kind of weakness. "Thank you, my lord."
Remiel lifted his arm and turned his palm out towards her. Rainbow colored light formed in front of his hand before splitting into ribbons of separate colored energies that came showering down upon the Chosen before the alter.
Said Chosen at first watched the light envelop her, but soon shut her eyes and let the angelic gift embrace her body, mind, and soul with all it had to give.
When the radiance at last finished melding together with its host, the most miraculous thing occurred. From her back two incomprehensibly beautiful purple-colored wings were spawned, basking a warm comforting glow over the area she stood on. Even though Genis and Raine were staring in awe and Kratos' attention was caught as well, Lloyd was the only one wholly entranced.
To him it was taken as unexpected. He knew Colette was supposed to turn into an angel but he never thought it would be this literal. Even so, Lloyd couldn't deny that the transformation he'd just witnessed was a most amazing spectacle, as if he'd just seen the most perfect flower in the world bloom fully right in front of his face.
It wasn't the fact that she had wings now that stirred this. No, that wasn't that it all. It was her wings themselves. They weren't like Remiel's as they seemed as if they were made of mana, divided into different segments and not attached onto the skin. But they held such pure splendor and appeared so gentle. It was as if those wings had sprouted from Colette's very essence— from her heart itself. The image of her was stuck in his mind forever after only a minute of taking it in. It was only when Colette ascended up into the air using her new limbs that Lloyd finally was able to snap himself out of his stupor with a big blink.
Remiel let his arm fall back to his side. "The angel transformation will not be without pain. Yet, it is but for one night. Be strong and endure."
"I humbly accept this trial," Colette breathed as she inwardly tried to adjust herself to her new wings, not used to having, feeling, or moving them properly enough to keep her aloft.
"The next seal lies far to the east, across the sea. Offer your prayers at that altar," the archangel stated firmly while keeping on his placid facade, eyes falling halfway.
Colette nodded unhurriedly. "Yes, Lord Remiel."
Remiel's smile shifted into more of a smirk as his body was consumed again in light and he vanished instantly, leaving a trail of feathers in his wake, as well as a final remark that boomed from nothingness. "I shall await you at the next seal, the Chosen of Regeneration, my beloved daughter, Colette."
When she felt that Remiel's presence was absolutely gone, Colette sighed audibly and slowly allowed her wings to let her descend. She was cautious, balancing herself with her arms when her feet touched the floor, careful that her extraordinary clumsiness wouldn't cause any sort of accident upon her landing. When she whirled around the little angel was met with three wide-eyed stares and one business-as-usual gaze. She blushed and pushed two fingers together, hands against her white and teal trimmed traveling clothes.
Seeing her embarrassment, Lloyd opened his mouth to say something heartening but blurted out his suppressed shock instead, faster than he could comprehend or think his words through. "Colette…has wings!"
Raine shot the brown-haired male a glare so sharp that he recoiled like it had smacked him in the face with a blunt object. Stating the obvious wasn't helping the blonde's discomfort, as her complexion had gone a shade redder when he'd said it, wings furled partially behind her.
Lloyd rubbed his neck, feeling apologetic. "Uh—"
"—They're incredible, Colette," Genis cut in hastily before Lloyd said something more blatant and idiotic, "I didn't think you'd get angel wings as a reward. Can you really fly now, I mean, higher than just a few feet?"
Colette's discomfiture washed away after hearing her young friend's praise and she cheerily folded her hands behind her back, beaming. "Uh-huh, I can. And look, I can put them away too."
Her wings shimmered, disappearing, and she turned slightly so Genis could get a look, feeling better of herself by the second as she watched the mage's reactions.
"Oh, wow! That's so cool! Don't you think so too Lloyd?" Genis jumped, pinning a hinted gaze on the swordsmen, darting his light cobalt eyes between him and Colette encouragingly.
Lloyd blinked and shifted toward Colette who was now intently paying attention to him, her lips curved up in a tender smile. The angel's cerulean eyes glistened, prodding for an answer to Genis' question without her having to say a thing. It never ceased to amaze him how expressive her body language was and how he could pick up on it so easily.
Lloyd suddenly found his face beginning to heat up from the intensity of those waiting eyes, eyes that to him outshone even the brightest of stars in loveliness.
He and Colette shared such an incredibly close bond. From the first day they'd met in Iselia, Lloyd felt a connection with her that made his heart skip a beat whenever she smiled, laughed, said his name or even looked at him. It was a happy, fuzzy surge of bliss so wonderfully warm and pleasant that only Colette was able to induce.
What he once thought was a meager crush had developed into so much more over the years. Maybe his feelings for her had always been that strong and he'd just lacked the maturity to engage them until recently. He wasn't exactly sure since they'd always been best friends, and it was in fact that knowledge itself that prevented him from telling her. His feelings were so sure, so strong, but he had no clue if they were requited. If they weren't Lloyd didn't want to tarnish their relationship by driving her away all together. Just the idea of that made his chest pang in sickening pain.
Despite having muses that turned truths into secrets, the most important thing was Colette. Whether she felt for Lloyd or not, he would be with her, by her side forever as her protector. It was a promise he'd made back during the days in school where she had been regularly bullied, harassed, thrown at and even hit for being different from others, unable to garner any help from the priests and teachers that monitored her excluding Raine. To Lloyd, Colette already was an angel—she had been her whole life. The only difference was that now she had the wings to prove it.
Of course, he couldn't really muster up enough courage to say that sentiment aloud.
"…Lloyd, are you alright?"
Lloyd roused himself awake to reality and found the blonde tipping her head in worry with a puzzled frown. The swordsmen blushed faintly, for the second time. He had completely spaced out, staring at Colette like a moron the entire time he'd been thinking. It really wasn't his day.
"Uh, sorry, I'm fine. Just a little tired," he said cheerfully while wearing his typical goofy grin, "It's amazing Colette, really amazing!"
The angel's reaction lit up her whole face, a small hue of red staining her cheeks as her wings reappeared and fluttered affectionately in response to Lloyd's compliment. "Thank you, Lloyd," she murmured.
"Hehe, it's the truth," he responded, though he was trying not to let Colette's adorable behavior rekindle his faded blush, as Genis was now giving him a droll stare.
The magus crossed his arms, seeing right through his friend's attempts to hide his real opinion. "Liar…"
Lloyd scoffed at him, turning around towards Kratos and Raine, who were busing themselves with a map of Sylvarant. "Shut it, Genis."
The magic-user didn't dignify Lloyd's insult with a rebuttal. He always reacted this way when teased about his obvious crush on Colette. "So how well can you move them, Colette?"
She paused and thought for a moment, seemingly deciding on flapping her wings at a moderate pace. "Pretty well, I guess. I'm still not really used to them though."
Genis' eyes seemed to sparkle in fascination as he watched her, jumping up again. "You're so lucky! I want a pair of wings now!"
"Here, look, look!" Colette clasped her hands in front of her as she usually did when feeling flattered, childlike enthusiasm overcoming her as she shut her eyes and giggled, flapping her wings faster.
Lloyd couldn't help but grin, chuckling at the sight as he glanced over his shoulder at his two closest friends, Genis leaping up occasionally and flailing his arms while Colette just continued to move her wings more vigorously. They were both so silly sometimes.
Shaking his head, he prepared to get involved in the conversation Kratos and Raine were having about traveling, since he was very thrilled to get the opportunity to board a boat. But before he could something caught his eye.
Loose feathers from Colette's wings floated to the ground after being shaken off by all the motion she was making. He peered down at those stray purple feathers in curiosity. Like her wings, they too seemed so gentle, each one casting its own unique shine. He noted, however, that they faded after a time, as if never there at all.
It was almost saddening that something so beautiful would eventually have to fade away like that, and angel feathers, Lloyd decided as he lead his eyes away from the feathers and the wings they'd fallen from to the angel they belonged to, were most beautiful.
That's it for Part I! Pretty basic stuff since I mixed the happenings of the Seal of Fire from the game and OVA together to make this scene, though I used most of the dialogue from the game to make it seem realistic. I hope it was pleasant to read and gained your interest so far. I tried my best so I could garner reviews...
...And on that note, please review, it makes me happy and encourages me to write faster. Really...it does... ^_^;;
Arigatou, minna! (Thank you, Everyone!) Be sure to stay tuned for more!
~Kazea